Alpine Shire Council has been successful in its funding application to install solar and battery storage at Saint Alban's Hall to support community resilience.
People living in remote areas across Alpine Shire are more likely to be vulnerable during emergency events, such as storms and other emergencies, that may result in power outages.
Council received $48,300 from the Ausnet Energy Resilience Community Fund to install 12kW of solar and a 22kWh battery storage unit on a community facility to develop a local resilience hub.
Building local resilience hubs close to remote communities will minimise travel and provide access to resources in times of need, such as heating or cooling, electricity for charging devices or keeping food refrigerated, and accessing running water.
Alpine Shire Mayor, Cr Sarah Nicholas, said that Saint Alban's Hall was assessed as a suitable facility in Council's Community Energy and EV Charging Prospectus 2024.
"It is important for Energy Resilience Hubs to be able to stand alone in times of emergency, particularly for people living in remote areas," she said.
"Saint Alban's Hall has an existing generator on-site and is islandable, which means that, with these new installations, it will be able to support our communities independent of the electricity grid."
The 12kW of solar and 22kWh battery storage unit is appropriate for a hall of this size, which fell within the full amount of the grant received.
Cr Nicholas said that this was an important factor in choosing Saint Alban's Hall as the first Energy Resilience Hub in Alpine Shire.
"We know that there are many remote communities throughout Alpine Shire who would benefit from having their halls turned into resilience hubs," she said.
"We are grateful to have the support of Ausnet in making this happen for the communities around Saint Alban's Hall now while we work towards this for other halls in the future."
The works to Saint Alban's Hall are expected to take place in 2026.
For more information about Council's Community Energy and EV Charging Prospectus, visit https://www.alpineshire.vic.gov.au/community-services/sustainability/community-climate-action
Council acknowledges the generous support of Ausnet through the Ausnet Energy Resilience Community Fund.